The present invention is generally related to marine propulsion systems, and, more particularly, the present invention is related to a marine propulsion system having an auxiliary drive subsystem for driving one or more accessories in a watercraft.
Watercrafts, such as pleasure boats, etc., may include various mechanically-driven accessories, such as a power steering pump for hydraulically assisting an operator to steer the boat in a desired direction without undue exertion, a water pump for cooling the engine, a pump for supplying a lubricating fluid to a hydraulic transmission, an auxiliary alternator to electrically power key subsystems that would prevent a boat from being stranded in the event of a main alternator power failure, etc. Unfortunately, those various accessories may result in a proliferation of multiple components, such as pump mounting brackets, belt drives, pulleys, serpentine belts, etc., that combinedly could result in higher manufacturing and servicing costs and may increase the probability of mechanical breakdown due to the multiple components that may be required to drive such accessories.
In view of the foregoing issues, it would be desirable to provide an auxiliary drive subsystem that may be readily adaptable to drive such accessories regardless of distinct configurations that may occur in different types of boats, and without having to make unique pump mounting brackets, belt drives, pulleys, etc., for each configuration. It would be further desirable to provide an auxiliary drive system that at a low cost improves the overall reliability achieved with present designs for driving such accessories. It would be still desirable to provide a kit for directly driving the various accessories in the boat, and that allows for saving space in the boat and that may be readily serviced and maintained quickly and at low cost in fleets of deployed boats by authorized service centers.
Generally speaking, the present invention fulfills the foregoing needs by providing in one exemplary embodiment a propulsion system for a watercraft and wherein the propulsion system is configured to drive one or more accessories therein. The propulsion system, such as a stem drive, may comprise an engine, and a drive shaft for carrying torque supplied thereto by the engine. The torque carried by the drive shaft during normal engine operation may be principally used to propel the watercraft. The propulsion system may further include a driven shaft dedicated to drive the one or more accessories, and a gear assembly for passing a relatively minor portion of the torque carried by the drive shaft to the driven shaft, and wherein each of the one or more accessories is coupled to the driven shaft to receive driving torque therefrom.
In another aspect of the invention, the present invention provides a method for driving one or more accessories in an outdrive of a boat having an engine coupled to a drive shaft to supply torque thereto. The torque received by the drive shaft is principally used to propel the boat. The method allows for providing an auxiliary shaft or driven shaft dedicated to drive the one or more accessories. The method further allows for passing a portion of the torque received by the drive shaft to the auxiliary shaft through a gear assembly to supply driving torque to the one or more accessories coupled to the auxiliary shaft.